Shi Yuanbai almost wanted to push Jiang Jingtong away. He was drenched in sweat and still dared to hug him.
He shouldn’t have come here in the first place. Shi Yuanbai realized several of his close friends were nearby, which made him extremely regretful.
If Jiang Jingtong had just stayed away, nothing would have happened. But for some reason Jiang Jingtong had lost his mind and hugged him directly.
Shi Yuanbai had no choice but to pick up the towel provided by Gu Siyuan and hand it to Jiang Jingtong to wipe his sweat.
“You’re all sweaty, hurry up and wipe it off.” After that, he also handed him a bottle of water.
If not for Jiang Jingtong’s recent hot-and-cold attitude towards him, he would never have come.
Looking at the towel Shi Yuanbai handed him, Jiang Jingtong felt truly touched.
“So you actually believe in me this much!” Gu Siyuan's method had indeed proven correct. Jiang Jingtong followed his instructions on how to treat Shi Yuanbai, and it actually made Shi Yuanbai anxious.
Even when he hugged him this time, Shi Yuanbai didn’t resist or push him away. Jiang Jingtong was finally convinced that Gu Siyuan’s method was useful.
And with Shi Yuanbai thoughtfully giving him things, Jiang Jingtong finally felt a glimmer of hope.
Meanwhile, Wu Siyuan went to the other side of the stands to find his roommate Chen Xuyao, who was talking to a man that looked a bit like his senior sister, Zhang Lianyue.
As they were chatting, Chen Xuyao’s expression was full of excitement and a bit mischievous, like he was pulling someone’s leg. The other man, with a serious face, seemed to think Chen Xuyao was saying something awful.
When Wu Siyuan walked over, Chen Xuyao waved, “Bro, are you done with the student council stuff?”
“Mm, actually I didn’t have much to do.”
Then Chen Xuyao introduced Wu Siyuan to the man, “This is my roommate Gu Siyuan. Fun fact, he’s also a die-hard fan who hangs out in that super-topic all the time.”
Super-topic? Wu Siyuan could only think of the one about Shi Yuanbai and Jiang Jingtong.
The man glanced at Wu Siyuan and took the initiative to shake his hand. “Hello Gu shidi. I’m Zhang Lianze, a senior in my fourth year. My sister often mentions you, and today I’m finally meeting you in person.”
“So Zhang-shijie often mentions me? Turns out you’re her twin brother. No wonder you look so alike.”
At the mention of Zhang Lianyue, Zhang Lianze’s expression relaxed a little.
Then Chen Xuyao quickly brought up Shi Yuanbai and Jiang Jingtong again, “Look, they were just hugging each other tightly.”
Wu Siyuan chimed in, “Exactly, truly a beautiful love story.”
“…” Zhang Lianze crossed his arms. Recently Shi Yuanbai been constantly trying to curry favor with him, seeming somewhat interested. But if things were really as Chen Xuyao described, Shi Yuanbai had always been in an ambiguous relationship with Jiang Jingtong. Recently it seemed like they were about to make things official. Then what was Shi Yuanbai’s real purpose in approaching him?
For people like them, there was a constant stream of admirers lining up. But given Shi Yuanbai’s family background, he didn’t need to do that. Even if he was useless, he could still relax at home and collect money.
His older brother, Shi Yuzhe, was quite capable. With him around, the Shi family wasn’t going to fall. Shi Yuanbai basically lived without any worries, so why curry favor with outsiders like them?
“Are they… really together?” Zhang Lianze asked.
“Not yet, but soon,” Wu Siyuan replied. ‘If you don’t butt in, it’ll probably happen faster.’
Zhang Lianze nodded. Though it made him a little uncomfortable, hearing this also gave him a sense of relief.
However, he was no longer in the mood to continue watching the competition, so he made an excuse and left.
Wu Siyuan and Chen Xuyao exchanged smiles. Another fish1 from Shi Yuanbai’s pond2 had slipped away.
They had discussed that as long as Shi Yuanbai and Jiang Jingtong went public as a couple, then the ambiguous lovers and flings would naturally decrease.
Wu Siyuan was doing this for a mission. As for Chen Xuyao's reasoning, he wasn’t sure. He guessed it might be for his family.
Chen Xuyao had an older sister who, according to rumours, liked Jiang Jingtong.
Of all people to like, she had to like a bent3 one? That was never going to work.
Judging by Chen Xuyao’s attitude, it must’ve been Jiang Jingtong who made the first move.
After successfully waking up two of Sh Yuanbai’s fish today, Wu Siyuan went back to the dorm to continue his business plans.
His family ran a chain of cinemas. Every time they opened a new one, they had to carefully pick the location or mall. If they went into a half-dead mall or a low-traffic street, their business wouldn’t thrive.
His father had been busy these past two years mostly because of this. If the location was wrong, not only would they fail to profit, but they might not even recover the initial investment they had made.
Then there was the scheduling of movies. If they placed a blockbuster in a weird time slot or a flop during prime time, then not even a great deity could save them.
And when it came to choosing films, it was really just one word: gamble. After all, before a movie was released, you couldn’t be sure how it would perform.
Gu Siyuan’s family cinema was a new player in the market, relying on high-end equipment and giant screens to attract people.
They had made mistakes before, such as picking a mall that looked crowded but was actually failing. The mall’s bad management drove customers away, and their investment losses were huge. His dad worked very hard to turn things around.
This year, things were finally looking better, and their theaters were expanding.
Conveniently, Chen Xuyao’s family ran an entertainment company, so they had plenty to talk about.
Wu Siyuan, not much of a star-chaser, was bewildered at first by all the showbiz gossip Chen Xuyao told him. Later, he realized that people in the industry really knew how to play.4
But these gossips occasionally allowed him to predict how a movie might do. For example, if a celebrity had a scandal right before release, the film might tank, dragging down the cinema’s schedule and profits too.
So Wu Siyuan gradually learned more about the film industry. Just knowing his family’s company wasn’t enough; he needed to understand the broader context.
He studied diligently and asked questions sincerely. Chen Xuyao thought his roommate was quite decent. He never fawned over him because of his background, and his attitude remained the same as before. Which made Chen Xuyao very satisfied, as he felt that this is how friends should behave.
Chen Xuyao had been exposed to the entertainment industry since childhood. His family’s company was basically a big boss in the circle. The questions Gu Siyuan asked were not very profound, and Chen Xuyao could almost answer them all.
One liked teaching and the other liked learning. Their two other roommates teased: “Hey, teach us too, or let us ask questions. Why are the two of you so serious? We said we’d advance together!”
Later, the student council photographer finally processed the basketball game photos and sent them to Wu Siyuan. He distributed some to his roommates, and then they all stormed the super-topic together.
【Ahhhh! This couple is so sweet, I believe in love again!】
【Sugar! The main CP is feeding us sugar!!】
【Zombie CP, yyds5!!!】
【Too sweet! Way too sweet!】
All four dorm mates posted together. When Shi Yuanbai saw it, he instantly felt his eyes burn.
Because of that basketball game, two potential catches, who had been chatting warmly with him before, started keeping their distance. Their words were no longer as gentle as before, only polite and distant.
It shouldn’t have been like that. Even when he explained that it was Jiang Jingtong who suddenly pounced on him, they wouldn’t believe it. The key was, their shift from warm to cold politeness was too drastic.
This contrast made Shi Yuanbai anxious. Biting his finger, he thought. ‘No, I have to figure something out.’
How could things change so much just from a simple hug? Something must have gone wrong.
He didn’t know who had been sitting next to those two potential catches at that time. But recently it seemed like many people knew about the existence of that Weibo super-topic.
Could it be because of that?
In that super-topic, a few hardcore fans were basically cult-leader level. He even knew one of them, Gu Siyuan.
He had to find a way to stop them from causing trouble.
He didn’t have Gu Siyuan’s phone number, but Zhang Lianyue did. Shi Yuanbai immediately reached out to her to ask for the contact information.
He didn’t know if it was his illusion, but ever since Zhang Lianze had started keeping his distance from Shi Yuanbai, even Zhang Lianyue wasn’t as enthusiastic towards him as before.
“Gu shidi’s phone number? It’s not really appropriate for me to just give it to you. How about I ask him for you?” The old Zhang Lianyue would have never said that.
After hanging up the phone, Shi Yuanbai’s eyes turned cold. Clearly she wouldn’t help. Either he went straight to Gu Siyuan in person, or he DM’d him on Weibo.
Shi Yuanbai was smart and didn’t plan on leaving written evidence in messages. So he went straight to Gu Siyuan’s dormitory building to ambush him.
The protagonist’s luck is generally not bad. Before long, he ran into Gu Siyuan.
“Gu shidi, I need to speak with you.” Shi Yuanbai smiled warmly at him.
Others would’ve called it gentle and refined, but Wu Siyuan just thought, ‘yeah right, nothing good ever comes out of this.’
Thankfully it was just about the Weibo super-topic. Otherwise, he’d really want to throw his head back and laugh at the sky.
‘He’s panicking, he’s panicking, he’s really panicking.’
Actually, he could slow down the process of tricking Jiang Jingtong, as long as he sped up the process of clearing out all the fish in Shi Yuanbai's fishpond. With no other options, Shi Yuanbai would definitely cling tighter to Jiang Jingtong.
The problem was, he didn’t know how many fish Shi Yuanbai actually had. Like that photographer guy, he hadn’t seen that one coming, and it wasn’t in the plot either.
It seemed better to clear out all the male supporting roles mentioned in the story. Wake them up quickly while their feelings weren’t too deep. That way, wouldn’t marriage be just around the corner?
Gu Siyuan readily promised Shi Yuanbai that he would stop being so active in the super-topic.
As for other fans, he said he’d try to persuade them, but whether they listened wasn’t up to him.
Shi Yuanbai was also reasonable about it. “As long as you stop holding raffles, that’s fine.”
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To hide my posts from agg re gators, you will notice that links to some chapters are not available in the table of contents (TOC), but don’t worry, when you are reading, these chapters can be accessed with the next and previous buttons at the bottom of the chapter.
Fish: refers to someone you’re keeping on the hook in a romantic or sexual sense.
Fish pond: harem / list of flings.
Bent: gay people. It’s a word play on the idea of straight people being heterosexual. So bent people must be homosexual.
Really know how to play: implies someone is good at manipulating or taking advantage of situations for their own benefit.
yyds: an internet slang which stands for “Yongyuan de Shen”, meaning “eternal god” or “the ultimate.” It is often used to express admiration or praise for someone or something.